#Beyond Meat inks deal with PepsiCo for snacks, drinks

Beyond Meat’s shares are sizzling on the news that it will launch a new line of snacks and beverages with PepsiCo.

The El Segundo, Calif-based fake meat company on Monday announced a joint venture with the snacks and soda giant called PLANeT Partnership, sending Beyond Meat’s shares up more than 20 percent.

Together the companies will develop a line of snacks and beverages made from the plant-based protein Beyond Meat uses in its burgers and sausages. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The spike in Beyond Meat shares comes after they got clobbered in November. On top of surprisingly weak demand at supermarkets, the company was hit with confusion over its partnership with McDonald’s. While Beyond Meat had said it was a “co-creator” of the burger giant’s upcoming McPlant veggie burger, McDonald’s said it is being developed “by McDonald’s for McDonald’s.

In the case of PepsiCo, however, officials on Tuesday appeared to be giving credit to Beyond Meats.

“Plant-based proteins represent an exciting growth opportunity for us, a new frontier in our efforts to build a more sustainable food system and be a positive force for people and the planet, while meeting consumer demand for an expanded portfolio of more nutritious products,” Ram Krishnan, PepsiCo global chief commercial officer said in a statement.

The companies could introduce plant-based dairy products or plant-based jerky/meat snacks or “completely new categories” wrote UBS in a research report, pointing out that Beyond Meat’s rival, Impossible Foods has indicated that it’s developing a dairy product.

“We are thrilled to formally join forces with PepsiCo in The PLANeT Partnership, a joint venture that unites the tremendous depth and breadth of their distribution and marketing capabilities with our leading innovation in plant-based protein,” Beyond Meat’s founder and CEO, Ethan Brown, said in a statement.

PepsiCo’s shares were up by less than 1 percent on Tuesday morning.